


Seven Days

by Windlight



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, Darcy's been a little out of the loop, F/M, Gen, Monday's Child, Not Anymore, Nursery Rhyme Inspired
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-22 15:04:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8290141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windlight/pseuds/Windlight
Summary: Several chance encounters with several strangers drags a reluctant Darcy back into the thick of this thing called Life.





	1. Introducing: Darcy Lewis

"So, you just don't date?"

"Not exactly. I mean, I date, but I'm not about forcing things. Why complicate life?"

\- - - - -

The laundromat was a ghost town on most Sunday mornings, which was exactly the way Darcy preferred it. She always tried to time it so that she was there the second the owners opened up their doors. That way she could get in and out before having to deal with people. Well, it wasn't meeting people, per se, that messed with her equilibrium, it was the sheer number of them...and their thoughts.

Granted, she wasn't a total noob. Darcy had had at least 26 years to get some kind of a handle on her telepathic abilities. She knew that she couldn't transmit thoughts, but boy, could she receive them. She knew she wasn't particularly strong, either. Darcy needed to be in direct skin-to-skin contact with the person she was 'reading' in order to glean anything. Add to all of that a heaping helping of a whacky, unpredictable gift of premonition that she had no control over and it wasn't a total shocker that she preferred the hermit life.

It was a very rare thing for her to take the initiative on reading someone's mind. So she lived her life on the fringes of society quite happily, making minimal contact when she couldn't help it.

Darcy loaded her clothes into three separate double load washers and put in the coins necessary to start the cycle, waiting until there was sufficient enough water to add her liquid detergent. Satisfied with the amount of suds currently whirling around in front of her, she returned to the seat she had been occupying across from the machines she was using.

The electric door chimes for the entrance sounded but Darcy paid it no mind. There were one or two other regulars who came to get laundry done at this time as well. She slipped her earbuds into her ears and pressed play, shuffled her playlist and turned the volume up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm curious myself as to where I'm going with this. Oh well. Let's have fun!


	2. Monday: Fair of Face

"You have really weird taste. Can't you, you know, not be weird about normal things?"

"Nope. One of my mottos is to not take pretty things at face value. You gotta find out what's true."

\- - - - - 

A passing SUV carelessly drove through a massive puddle splashing a wave of dirty water all over Darcy, leaving her drenched and standing stock-still on the sidewalk, grocery bags hanging from both hands. She hung her head dejectedly and sighed tiredly before folding up her umbrella. Darcy might as well go for broke and let herself be rained on today, the way things were going, it would be an improvement.

Another SUV came close and Darcy shuffled away from the curb, stepping closer to the buildings to get away from any other puddles that she could be splashed with. She wasn't asking for a repeat performance. However, this vehicle (some fancy, new looking thing) slowed as it came nearer to Darcy, stopping once it was right in front of her.

Darcy stared at the tinted windows wondering what was happening, despite nothing actually happening when for a very brief moment, it all came to a stand still and a familiar urge began churning in Darcy's gut, telling her to stay put. Unclenching a fist she hadn't even realized she had clenched in the first place, Darcy pivoted to fully face the SUV and waited for fate to come her way in the form of whomever was in the vehicle.

A stocky man, with rough, menacing features got out of the driver's seat but as he came around the vehicle towards her, Darcy noted that he was dressed in a sharp suit that probably cost more than she would see in a lifetime. He looked her over, shook his head to himself and reached for the rear passenger door to open it before indicating with his head that Darcy should get in. For her part, Darcy lifted her hands in surrender and backed away, hoping the strange man would realize that she wasn't exactly prime kidnapping material. Forget fate!

"Whoa, whoa, hold on there. Aren't you being a bit too obvious about kidnapping me?" She inquired, glancing about herself for any possible witness that could help a girl out. "Besides, I don't know anyone rich enough to give you anything that could be better than the suit you're already wearing or the vehicle you're driving. I mean, I just bought some bacon and you can totally have that if you want. Don't worry it's the good stuff."

The large man sighed and lifted an eyebrow in Darcy's direction.

"Whoa, yourself. I saw what that asshole did to you. You need a ride somewhere? Count it as my good deed for the day." His voice was a bit more nasally and lacking in huskiness than Darcy would've expected. Huh. She'd totally pegged him for an underworld, dark side of the city goon-type.

Silence reigned supreme as Darcy engaged in a staring contest with someone she'd never before seen in her life. 

He won. 

Well, it wasn't as if Darcy had a super huge attention span anyway. 'Suits' wasn't much for any kind of facial expression either so it was pretty much a done deal from before they started the contest. Darcy took a deep breath.

"You got a name?" she asked, wondering if this would be a choice she would regret in a moment or so.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm Happy. Happy Hogan."

Darcy eyed his face in disbelief, taking in the distinct lack of happiness reflected on his uneven facial features. This guy had definitely lost a couple of fights in his time.

Happy shrugged and again indicated for Darcy to get in the vehicle. "What can I say? I'm just a happy guy."

Yeah, and Darcy was in complete control of her life. She took another deep breath and stepped towards Happy.

\- - - - - 

All of the awkwardness in the universe had apparently followed Darcy into the backseat when she got into Happy's SUV. He'd merely handed her several oversized towels that he'd pulled from the trunk as if he did it everyday and shrugged at her dismay at the possibility of ruining his interior.

"The Boss doesn't care much. Well, neither of them would have much to say against me helping someone in need out."

Dammit. He said the word 'boss' with a capital B, which wasn't a good sign for her safety in the near future. Darcy gingerly took the towels from him and placed one over her head to attempt to dry her thick hair. She then removed the thick, now drenched jacket she'd worn in anticipation of today's weather. It would bare her forearms, but since he was driving there was little chance of him touching her and accidentally letting her read his mind. Thankfully, she hadn't forgotten her leather gloves this morning. In the meantime, Happy made his way back to the driver's seat but before starting up the engine, he caught her gaze in the rearview mirror.

"Seatbelt. The vehicle won't move without it."

Wide-eyed, Darcy slowly pulled the seatbelt over her chest and clipped it in before asking, "Really?" She glanced about herself thinking how neat it was that the vehicle was so high tech, it looked completely normal.

Happy snorted and shook his head. "No, I just wasn't sure if you were gonna give me any trouble about wearing it."

Darcy blew out a slightly annoyed breath but settled back as Happy pulled away from the curb. "Do you work as a chauffeur?"

She watched as Happy easily weaved through city traffic. The sound of the raindrops tapping on the roof of the SUV, soothed her – slightly. 

"Well, that's one part of my job description. I, uh, wear a lot of hats."

"Oh."

Darcy had called it. She'd somehow fallen in with the mob. The awkward silence resumed. 

"So, where am I heading?"

"You can drop me off at the laundromat over on Birch street. Do you know where that is?"

Hogan glanced at her from the rearview mirror. "Do I know where that is?" he scoffed. "It's near my old stomping grounds."

"All right then. Thank you Mr. Hogan."

"Happy. It's just Happy. Nobody calls me Mr. Hogan."

"Well then, who calls you Happy?" Darcy's mouth had a habit of running away from her common sense when she wasn't careful. To her surprise, the furrow between Happy's eyes didn't deepen. In fact, his face softened.

"My, uh, family."

Darcy nodded. "That's cool."

Happy cleared his throat. "You know, I wasn't kidding about the good deed thing. I been seeing a therapist, he said I needed to find a way to promote positivity and, uh, I figure this is a good way to do it."

"Sounds like a pretty good plan, Happy."

"Yeah, I thought so."

Darcy wracked her brain for another topic of conversation but there really was no need. The vehicle suddenly swerved, without warning, severely to the left and then the right, which threw Darcy around the backseat like a rag doll, despite her seatbelt. She struggled to look out the back window, expecting to see a horde of dark vehicles with tinted windows and guys hanging out of windows trying to shoot at her own vehicle.

Well, she wasn't quite disappointed, but there were only two dark vehicles with tinted windows and no one was hanging out of them trying to shoot at her. Yet.

"Ah, sh- Darcy, hang on."

The car swerved several more times before coming to a sudden stop. Her heart pounded as she tried to take a deep breath. She slowly reached for the door handle,

"Umm, you know. I could probably walk from here. Let me leave the bacon with you and-"

"Stay in the SUV and don't move. We've got some people tailing us but backup should be here soon."

Darcy pressed her hands over ears. "Look, I'm not asking any questions. Nope, not at all! Curiousity never killed any of my cats. I wouldn't let it."

Happy huffed at Darcy in amusement.

"Just sit tight, kiddo. Help is on the way."

"Help?! What kind of-"

A loud thunk sounded as something heavy landed on roof over Darcy's head, causing dents that had her eyes widening and her jaw dropping open. Happy noticed as he twisted around in his seat to get a better look at what was going on behind them.

"No, see that's my Boss, well, one of them. Don't worry the car's bulletproof. You're in good hands now," he rushed to reassure her, reaching for her bare forearms but stopping the moment she hissed and pulled away from his reach. Startled, Happy drew back and raised his arms to show he was no threat to her.

Darcy, belatedly realizing her mistake, slowly tugged her wet jacket on before folding in on herself. She hated the way she tended to react to human contact but it was involuntary, an automatic response to a gift she'd never asked for.

Happy for his part watched her for a moment, his eyes unreadable before lowering his hands.

"So, you don't like to be touched? It is what it is and it ain't nothing I haven't ever seen before. Is it me touching your skin that you got a problem with?" he inquired earnestly.

She hesitated to answer, a lifetime's worth of fear and anxiety held her back, but Happy wouldn't let it be.

"This is a life or death situation kiddo. I gotta know what you'll let me or anyone on my Boss' team do, so we can make sure you make it out alive."

Darcy lifted her head and mumbled, "As long as my skin is covered, you should be fine."

"Attagirl," Happy grinned, not unkindly. His face completely opened up when he smiled. "Now, I'm sorry about this."

Sorry? What did he have to be sorry about? The door to Darcy's right swung open and before she could react someone threw themselves into the backseat as shots were starting to fire. A sharp prick at the base of her neck told her everything she needed to know about why Happy was sorry. She looked at him accusingly but her eyes were already starting to close.

"Happy? No bac'n ferrrr..."

Her world went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Totally going AU! An AU also known as the AU where Darcy has not met any of the Avengers crew yet but everything up until Civil War has happened. Umm, don't get into vehicles with strangers, okay? That is all. Thoughts?


End file.
